031 [W9] CONCEPT MODEL

030 [W9] CONCEPT DESIGN

The following are sketches that started off my design!
This is the beginnings of my concept;

|| Concept sketch ||

|| Connecting to Context ||

|| Rural / City ||

|| Section Sketch ||

|| Perspective ||

|| Perspective ||

|| Context ||

|| Concept ||




















|| Infrastructure ||

|| Concept ||

|| Pods ||

|| Perspective ||

|| Section Sketch ||

|| Perspective ||

|| Section ||

|| Plan ||

029 [W9] BRIEF

The following is a summary of the brief which Yasu has given to all DAB810 students.

Assessment 02: The Place To Be - Architectural Proposal
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• Infrastructure 

            1. Strategy (12.5%): Has the infrastructural strategy been developed and communicated well in the blog and final presentation/submission?


            2. Logistics (12.5%): Hast he logistics been considered and well incorporated in the design? Has the development been well documented and communicated well in the blog and final presentation?


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• Tectonic Resolution

            1. Purpose and Function (12.5%): Has the purpose and function of the architectural entity been chosen in response to (latent) needs? Is the design response appropriate? Has the development been well documented and communicated well in the blog and final presentation?


            2. Circulation and Access (12.5%): Has the use of architectural entity been studied and the circulation within and/or access to it been studied? Is it evident in the design? Has the development been well documented and communicated well in the blog and final presentation?


            3. Structural  and/or Operational Integrity (12.5%): Has the structural and/or operational integrity been studied and made evident in design? Has the development been well documented and communicated well in the blog and final presentation?


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• Poetic Resolution

            1. Presence and Identity (12.5%): Has the impact of the proposed entity's presence been considered and its identity been chosen with strong understanding of what it needs to represent and signify?


            2. User Experience (12.5%): Has the experience of users been considered and effectively presented from the perspectives of users?


            3. Aesthetic Rigor (12.5%): Has the effort been made to pay attention to detail in your communication?


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028 [W9] MOBILE EXEMPLAR

Now my concept is starting to show some strength i thought that this would be a good time to compile a list of exemplar projects which will help inspire my design to greater heights.

ECO PODS
Designed by Heweler and Yoon & Square design Lab for Boston.
This structure acts as a temp "algae bio-reactor"
Ultimately the concept behind this design is to maximise renewable energy source to activate the robotic arms which place the pods practically anywhere it wants. The pods become almost a parasite as they can be grouped together, singularly or on an existing building.

What i like about this design is its ability to adapt to any situation.. I hope to achieve this type of robust style in my design as i will be utilising the disaster response unit all over Australia. The presence that this design creates is amazing. I am playing around with ideas at the moment that will help show 'Parliaments' presence..
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TAFONI FLOATING HOME
Designed by Joanna Borek-Clement
http://architecturelab.net/2010/01/tafoni-floating-home-project-by-joanna-borek-clement/

Primary goal of this conceptual project is to change the attitudes towards living on a houseboat and promote a lifestyle that limits disruption of the environment.

What i like about this Design; The small footprint that this pod leaves is essential for consideration of parliament. The style of approach is modular in construction however looks quite unique.
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AEDAS: THE CONTAINED CALLS
Designed by Aedas in the UK

Participants were asked to develop an 'iconic' commercial building. The form created is quite bold and and iconic. The concept is derived from the former warehouse storage units that once inhabited the site.

What i like about this Design; its ability to flawlessly integrate into the context. The modular pods create negative space which is where a lot of the action is happens. By using the shipping containers as the structural frame and then highlighting the negative spaces which emerge from this i will be heading in the right direction for my design proposal.
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FELIPE CAMPOLINA: Portable housing
Designed by Felipe Campolina
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/9491/felipe-campolina-portable-housing.html


This Brazilian Architect has developed a 'portable housing' design. A sky scraper design that is comprised of hundreds of mobile units.

What i like about this design; The architect has realised that currently, the need to inhabit the planet sustainably is an increasing concern for the future. Thus this design deals with both, environmental and social issues.
The living systems are telescopic in size, starting as a 20ft shipping container that has been pre fabricated. Once in position the container 'pulls' apart to create a contain 40 ft in length.

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The following is a list of designs that i believe are worth mentioning as they helped shape the vision of my design:

Yonoh: 'Box' - a modular Bathroom System
The Double Room - Portable Home
Lava: Digital origami emergency shelter
Ik studio: Conics Canopy
Seed: Adam Berry
Memsys: Jessica Dailey - Solar powered shipping container

027 [W9] LECTURE & TUT NOTES

Week 9 Lecture: Knowledge and Artefacts

Architecture is concerned with;
Contexts -- Artefacts -- People

What is the role of Architects??
- Architect as Visionary
- Architect as Coordinator of Events
- Architect as Enabler


Following examples were highlighted within the lecture for further research:

Next 21 [Oasaka, Japan]
Nakagin Capsule Tower [Tokyo, Japan]
Generator 1980 [ John and Julia Frazer]
Calbuild Kit 1985 [John Frazer + Stephen Brown]
ANSI Builder Kit 2010 [ Yasu Santo + Janis Birkeland]

An Architect's blueprint is a specifit one-off set of plans whereas the 'blueprint' in nature is set of instructions which are dependent on a particular environmental context for their interpretation.
                                                                                                                                          John H. Frazer

TUTORIAL ACTIVITY


Today Jane and I went through the CRA together. She highlighted important aspects that i should be focusing on in order to achieve a comunicative design that meets the brief.
She is happy with the research approach i've taken yet is still prompting me to produce some scaled floor plans to show circulation and user ability of my design.

026 [W8] RURAL HEALTH/EDUCATION

|| Containers to Clinics || Innovative health care for Women and Children
http://www.containers2clinics.org/

Mission Statement
Containers 2 Clinics (c2c) seeks to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality rates in the developing world by providing access to high-quality primary healthcare for women and children. We deploy shipping containers converted into clinics to areas with inadequate facilities and collaborate with the local organisations and governments to provide clinical, laboratory, pharmacy, and health education services.

Objectives
To reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality by;
      - Providing access to quality health care for under-resourced, vulnerable women and children;
      - Filling infrastructure and programming shortfalls in the public health system.
To create a sustainable solution by building expertise and accountability at the local level through partnerships with a national ministries of health hand local non-governmental organisation (NGOs)

The following images represent a timeline of sorts for the construction and integration of the C2C into the needed township. I hope to achieve a similar approach within my design, whilst meeting the needs of the community.

025 [W8] RURAL TYPOLOGY

024 [W8] SITE ANALYSIS RESEARCH

As mentioned in the Disaster Concept blog below i've chosen to focus on the Australian Rural Outback. This is again taken one step further with my focus being on Northern Queensland Rural towns. Below is a small list of Queensland townships which have been affected over the last 20 years..

Normanton

|| March 1998 ||

- Heavy floods leaving town isolated.

- 50 homes destroyed.

- 300 evacuated.

Cloncurry

|| 2nd Jan 1990 ||

- Heavy falls in upper reaches caused major flooding.

- 347 homes affected.

Longreach

|| Jan 1999 ||

- Widespread rural flooding.

- Longreach town isolated 3 days.

Barcaldine

|| April 1990 ||

- 300 home destroyed

- 1000 evacuated

Charleville

|| April 1990 ||

-Evacuation of entire town.

-Major disaster relief operation to clean up.

Morven

|| Feb 1998 ||

- Marinova River flooded

- Cut off community 3 days

Emerald
|| 19th jan 2008 ||

- 1000 homes affected

- 2500 people evacuated

Charters Towers

Below is a site map of Charters Towers. The ideal location for my entity to integrate itself into the community would be close to the city hall, sports ovals, schools or even the main street of the community. The site needs to be roughly flat that is located above flood lines in order to maximise the benefits of my response unit.

023 [W8] LECTURE & TUT NOTES

Week 8 Lecture:
Architecture as Assistive Device

Architecture affords;
Protections -- Supports -- Opportunities
But does it provide assistance?


Architect as Instigator
Architect as Vehicle
Architect as Symbol

Architectural Entity needs to assist people to;
 - Debate political/social/cultural issues
 - Make political/social/cultural decisions
 - Take actions
 - Do so through flexible, mobile, distributed and/or virtual means
 - Understand it constitues the Australian capital territory

TUTORIAL ACTIVITY


Today Jane took each student through their project individually.. At this stage my concept is beginning to show some form, yet i still need to begin sketching up some 3d forms to communicate my ideas more clearly.
Jane is happy with the progression that i am taking.. Just need to document some more!!

022 [W7] DISASTER CONCEPT

For the purpose of this assignment Yasu emphasised the importance of creating a 'story' to set the scene for our parliament entity.
Thus, continuing from the initial project that Josh, Keiren and I established.. i have chosen to continue along the disaster response mode of thought for the second project.

Focus on rural communities which have been cut off from society due to unpredictable disaster conditions i.e Floods & Fire.
My disaster Entity will be transported to the rural community via aircraft; Chinook or Globe-master. This selection of items will be pre-fabricated shipping containers which rest on large Box truss's that house essential services.
This entity will be assembled on site with the help of a mobile hydraulic trailer which is also transported by Chinook. The trailer rotates the shipping container into required position before sliding it off onto the Box truss to be secured. Once operational, the entity uses power and water from its own collection/storage supply which can be replaced or fixed when needed.

Why have i chosen to follow this path?
When a disaster strikes people rely on each other to get through the tough times. Out in the rural Australian outback things are no different in regards to thoughts and needs to that of the people in the big cities.
Thus, when Brisbane flooded last year i lost power for more than 48 hours.. i received a cash bonus from the government within the week. This is fantastic news for myself as i lost a lot of food and was physically lacking the comfortability of my home during the day and night time.

On the other hand, i have a close relative who lived in northern Queensland who lost part of their house due to the floods yet stil had not received and support from the government 2 months after the flooding had occurred. Not only that but the support from the government took 'way too long to arrive and begin helping restore order to the community' according to my relative.

Thus i'd like to create a more DIRECT DEMOCRACY giving people the opportunity to interact within my entity having their turn to meet directly with a parliament official or obtain some sort of live feed back to parliament to have their thoughts heard and acted upon.
Not only will my entity give a face to parliament but it will also meet basic needs of the Australian people... Food, water and power. The essentials when a community is on the balance of destruction.

021 [W7] TRANSPORT OPTIONS

|| Integration and Removal of Parliament Entity for given context ||


The following is a list of aircrafts which parliament will be able to utilise for the purpose of integrating my response entity into the diaster struck community.
I have summarised each aircraft below focusing on the following headings;

Capacity
Crew
Length
Max speed
And range

Ultimately, the Chinook and the Globe-master have been chosen due to their amazing statistics. Considering that this entity will be transported by air into the required rural destination i believe that these two options are very much suitable.

Chinook:

Globe-Master:

Why did i choose either of these two options??
Due to the nature of my diaster response entity i need a transport option which can bypass floods/storms to reach the destination of the township. Thus the above two options have been chosen.

Also its quite important to note that the design will be integrating some sort of pod/shipping container thus the dimensions of the planes will restrict the form of my entity..

Function will dictate the form of my building...